Babawilly4President: 2014

We all have a close relationship with those things we cannot do. They are talked about all the time just like a favourite child. One lady, on hearing me talk about doing a half marathon gave me a five minute talk on why she couldn’t do a long race. She talked as if I had invited her on a race date.

I too love to be entertained by the unattainable, those things I cannot and would not do. Jumping off burning aeroplanes and detonating nuclear missiles are way above my league but hey!, there is James Bond. Body building contests and probably most of the Olympic Games are opportunities to gaze and be amazed with the fitness and physiques of talented and dedicated individuals. And this is an opportunity the whole world never passes up on.

On the other hand, we are never enraptured by the things we can do, or those skills that we feel are easily attainable with a bit of practice. The unattainable can even rise to become the subject of fantasy and obsession. Reality TV shows where wealth is flaunted serves as an outlet for the millions who feel that a certain lifestyle is simply out of reach in this life time. They look on and wish, until they sigh and saying to themselves ‘if only’.

Apart from the things that are desirable and out of reach, there are the things which are abhorred and deemed beneath ‘civilised people’. These are the behaviours and attitudes which those who inhabit the lofty moral altitudes deem to be contemptible. Day time TV is all about dysfunctional people expressing their pathologies in public. Many people get the chance to ask ‘have they no shame?’ as they stay glued to the TV. Well, if you would not have eight children by eight baby-mamas, why watch a programme about someone who will? One colleague once told me he likes to know what our taxes pay for by why of social benefits for the idle.

Most of what people spend their time on (either in the thinking or the doing) can be divided into these three groups – what they feel can be done, what they feel cannot be done and what should never be done even if an opportunity arises for it to be done.

The Can do zone

These are activities and tasks that are seen as possible. Those around you determine what you think you can do most of the time. Mr A the nocturnal professional armed robber who relaxes at a sports bar all day, would find it difficult to hang around Mr B who works as a teacher all day and relaxes by spending time with his children most evenings. At the start of each day, everyone has a vision of what they can do that day and there are so many variations on this theme. Hence the adage, one man’s beef is another man’s poison. While some say ‘who can I rob today?’ others say ‘who can I teach today?’

So, what percentage of our waking hours should be spent in the ‘I Can’ zone? This would be doing and achieving things we know are possible. One hundred percent would be a good answer but entertainment takes time.

The cannot do zone

Have you ever meet anyone who told you that they cannot do most things save breathing and sweating when it is hot? They cannot do things within their grasps how much more attempting things that may fail. Talking to people like this will demonstrate how diligent they are in making mental trips looking for pitfalls. Business is fraught with con men. The government is out to get us all. New cars only draw unnecessary attention. Foreign holidays may end up in accidents. Their list is endless. They have done the research and concluded that they cannot so no one else should. They spent all their time in the cannot zone.

The wouldn’t do that zone

We were watching a James Bond movie (cannot remember which) and he shot somebody dead and stared at the corpse for a few seconds before coming up which a wise crack, adjusting his tie and moving on. ‘This guy is a psychopath, no remorse whatsoever. I couldn’t ever do that’ I heard myself think. That didn’t stop me from watching every single Bond film – twice this year alone. There is a fascination with murderers, psychopaths, sociopaths and evil people that makes us spend time watching them. High profile murder cases tend to prove popular among people who struggle to kill a fly.

Yes we Can

Nelson Mandela was quoted as saying ‘It always seems impossible until it is done’. And Barrack Obama is famous for the slogan,’ Yes we can’.

To these two great men I add the Adiddas slogan, ‘Impossible is nothing’ and for good measure Nike’s slogan , ‘Just do it’.

The things we know we can do, we should do. (So go brush your teeth and wear clean clothes).

The things we know we cannot do may

Never be possible. But how can we be sure?
Never be possible but we could try anyway ie Get Rich or die trying (50 cent).
Not be possible in this generation but we start trying so that the next generation starts a head start.
Be possible at a later date with developments in technology.

In summary, we can do all things

The things we say we cannot do today may be possible in the future if an enabling environment is achieved.

And the things we cannot do??

Well, entertainment is all about what we cannot and would not do, so let’s keep on watching Spiderman, Batman and Superman as rewards for long hard days of working to make the impossible possible. Yes we can.

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

Babawilly

28-10-2014

Each man an Island

Tuesday Article; quod erat demonstrandum

http://qed.ng/?p=3263#sthash.ginQXBw3.yqQF54j2.dpbs

Tuesday 14 October 2014

London Marathon. (Blast from the past)

http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com/articles/1721/1/London-Marathon/Page1.html

What's up with the running Doc?

This is the latest of my weekly Tuesday articles with QED.Ng

As I prepare for the Birmingham Half Marathon on 19-10-2014 I will try here to answer the most frequently asked questions I get about running.

Why run?
What is chasing you?
How long is the distance?
Will you finish the race?
Why run to raise money for charity? Why don’t you just make a donation?

Why run?

It seems inbuilt in man to run. Kids all run both indoors and outdoors. As they grow older they finally get convinced by adults to walk and some will never run again; hence the obesity crisis. Running is important for escaping danger and our bodies are built for running.

There are many health benefits to obtain from running so it is actually surprising that anyone asks, ‘why run?’ No one asks ‘why eat?’ or ‘why sleep?’ Perhaps the benefits of this form of exercise are eclipsed in peoples’ minds by the supposedly difficulties involved in running.

People usually will avoid hardship whenever possible, so seeing someone willingly walk into hardship makes them wonder why. I do the same whenever I read about those marathon runners who race in the Sahara desert (Are there no graves in London that they travel to the Sahara to die? I think to myself).

The inconveniences of running are –

Breathlessness

People hate the state of breathlessness and would do anything to avoid it for this state is the closest one can get to what it feels like to be dying. A pounding chest, aching muscles and a sweaty body compounds the displeasure.

Missing out on fun stuff

Running is best done at fixed times. This can mean sacrificing pleasurable activities. Short term gratification is sacrificed for long term gain by indulging in an immediate discomfort. Not very appealing!

Braving extremes of temperature

The heat of summer and the cold of winter naturally make people to seek comfort. Rain, snow and cold winds produces an urge to stay indoors tucked under a duvet with a cup of warm beverage for company. Leaving the warmth of a comfortable room for the cold rain is counter intuitive.

Losing time

There is usually a lot to do during the day. Running may take up to an hour and that time needs to be found bearing in mind the domestic demands placed on members of families.

Tiredness

At the end of a busy day in the office, people are tired. Why risk increasing the unpleasantness of fatigue by running up the exhaustion bill?

Shame

People have told me they would ‘look silly’ running down the street on account of their numerous wobbly body parts.

Risky roads

Tripping on uneven pavements, being hit by oncoming traffic, being mugged, being attacked by dogs startled when you run round a corner, being caught up and lynched due to mistaken identity when you run into a thief being chased by a mob shouting ‘ole, ole,ole!!’ because you unfortunately are wearing the same colours as the thief (LOL; Lagos out loud)

What is chasing you? (Wetin dey pursue yu sef?)

This question is mainly from the Nigerian quarters. It is born out of the proverb that goes thus – the toad running in the day time is either fleeing from a threat or pursuing something lucrative. My answer is that I am fleeing obesity and pursuing fitness

How long is the distance?

A marathon is 26.2 miles long and a Half marathon is 13.1 miles long. D’banj’s maxim- No long thing- does not apply here.

Will you finish the race?

By the grace of God (I am a Nigerian thus there is God in everything we do)

Why race money for charity?

I wondered about this myself when I first came to the UK till I learn how it works here. My formative years were spent in Nigeria where charitable acts were financed through fund raising initiatives where would-be donors gave if they felt the cause was worthy of their money.

The concept of giving because of the difficult of the task to be endured is worthy of your money is how it is done in the UK. So people run long distances, climb mountains or swim across rivers and ask friends and family to sponsor them with all proceeds going to a designated charity. England’s premier marathon, the Virgin London marathon raises thousands of pounds for UK charities as most of the non- elite participants run to raise money

Marathons

Participants are divided into the Elites and non-elites or fun runners. The Elites (also referred to as Kenyans and Ethiopians) start at the front and are usually the professionals. The fun runners who consist of the serious fun runners who are members of running clubs and the real fun runners who are more interested in taking part, enjoying the day and raising money. Real fun runners would be the ones with the fancy costumes and the ones who smile and wave at the watching crowd.

Personally persona Personally

I personally run Half Marathons as they provide incentive to run throughout the year. Once you register for a race, you know that you will suffer on race day if you do not train. This training is done according to a schedule and not according to the weather or how your feel.

I run with my I-pod and select whatever Ted lectures, music or preaching tapes I need to listen to before leaving the house. If it rains, then I pat myself on the back for battling the elements.

I cope with the breathlessness and muscle pain by telling myself that – no pain, no gain, short term inconvenience for long term health and fitness, short term story, long term glory.

I am one who needs to meditate and pray daily and I fall asleep if I try to do this sitting in a corner. I must keep moving, so in running I kill two to five stones with one bird.

This year I would be raising money for the Home of God’s Grace Orphanage in Ikorodu. Please e-mail me for details if you wish to make a donation.

Monday 6 October 2014

Creative Fearing

The dread of the present or the future; immediate or distant is what fear is all about. With the exclusion of those imposters who say they are afraid when they are not, most people who claim to fear or act as if they fear, have honest claims. The false ones are the ones who say, ‘I am afraid this relationship must come to an end. It is nothing to do with you. It is me’ or ‘I am afraid we would not be granting you a Visa to the United Kingdom on this occasion’. These false fear proclaimers lack something else beyond the absence of integrity. They lack sweat, for how can you really be afraid without sweating?

Fear has its important uses. Snake crawls into a room, fear spreads like a juicy rumour, everybody reacts like Usain Bolt and the room is promptly vacated. The adrenaline rush helps in times of emergency. It is also useful when an important event is coming up. Not sleeping, brain storming and researching, working hard and aiming for perfection ensures no stone is left unturned in preparations. It is usually better to arrive at this said event over prepared than under prepared. Take a country that fears public ridicule in a world cup year. They plan everything for fear of losing their jobs and respect if things go wrong under the watchful eyes of the international press. They plan their team’s diet, pay their players and coaching staff, book their hotels etc. and when the event comes along, their over planning pays dividends for they will not argue over players’ payments just before matches kick-off. The fear of shame is important for individuals, professionals and countries. Unfortunately some countries fear no shame.

For all the virtues of fear however, it tends to produce more harm than good in the life of people. While it is acceptable to feel a bit edgy with impending examinations, public speaking engagements or job interviews, there are many who fear when there is absolutely nothing to fear. These are the people who create reasons to fear daily and remain faithful to their commitment to being afraid all day long. To these people, should an important event rear its head, they are thrown into a full blown panic.

Creative fearing, like all creative activities involve the dreaming up of wondrous possibilities when nothing in the present suggests their remote existence. Like inventors in search of the next big thing that question ‘what if?’ is followed by ‘why not?’ in the minds of these’ creatives’. Inspiration comes from everyday occurrences and what better pool of information for them than the news. There is hardly any news bulletin that does not report the death of at least two people somewhere in the world. ‘If it happened to them, it could happen to me’ is a reasonable conclusion to reach at the end of the news. Over the years, every accident and mishap that might occur during every activity under the heavens is stored in their minds ready to be recalled at the drop of a hat. Plane, trains and automobiles do crash as does the stock market, relationships end, property gets stolen, drinks get poisoned, friends turn enemies, businesses collapse as do buildings, relatives die, epidemics spring up, public funds are embezzled and conspiracies abound everywhere; the list is endless. Musicians usually say the person with the biggest record collection has a better chance of coming up with new music. The same applies to fear. To do it creatively, the mind must store thousands of adverse outcomes so that they are effortlessly applied to any new scenario that might spring up. Practice then makes perfect and ingenuity starts to manifest over time. I once had a patient who was riddled with fear about Birmingham (located in the middle of England and furthest from the sea in any direction) being hit by a Tsunami. One would expect coastal towns to worry about such. That is creativity for you. The mind is capable of conjuring up any eventuality no matter how unrealistic. Is that not why we watch movies; to view beautiful actors entertain us with the unrealistic and absurd all set to nice music emanating from brilliant minds?

The television and news is not enough though. Creative people need a circle of friends. I am sure most people would have noticed how the very good musicians hang out together as do the top sportsmen. This is what the late Napoleon Hill called the Master Mind group. To really excel in any field from the noble to the criminal you need the support of a group. They serve to reinforce your beliefs and give you inspiration to strive on to excellence. The fearful who wish to remain so will not hang out with the positive mental attitude ‘freaks’ who read autobiographies of people with courage and positive outcomes all day long. The fearful do not read such books. Horror movies, dramas that linger forever, day time talk shows with guests that do not inspire are the staple diet of those who fear. They desperately want to see people who confirm to them what they fear; that life is unfair, life is tough and bad things happen so what is the point in striving for anything different? These day time shows will always have someone lying about affairs, paternity or drug use. The lie detector is always star of the show. A group of people who watch these programmes will remain paranoid, unadventurous (as adventurers die) and ultimately depressed.

The final nail in the coffin of the fearful is what separates the infant creative from the sages of this petrified lifestyle. One does not become a master in a field by being diligently intentional in applying ones abilities alone. True greatness comes through the vehicle of premonition. Knowing for sure that doom is at hand and getting doom hours before the expected date of arrival. Few attain to this level and this class of people are a sight to behold. You will be scared having them around to your house because appliances will erupt in flames and all they would do is smile knowingly, stroke their beards or hair extensions and say quietly, ‘I knew it’. They fear every activity will go wrong and like an industrial magnet they attract very bad thing.

Now, what is the solution to creative fearing?

Ditch your Master Mind group; change your phone number and move house if necessary.
Stop watching the TV for two months and undergo a negative news feed detox
Stop clicking on links on the web promising beheadings by Jihadist or wild animals eating human beings.
Never talk about what you fear

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

Babawilly

6-10-2014

Monday 29 September 2014

PhD Holders from UniDisco

Self –appointed cleaner roam to and fro seeking to ‘wipe’ smiles off faces. The smile is a dirty thing to them so armed with training from the University of Discouragement aka UniDisco they hit the road with their GPS with tells them where the merriment is taking place. PhDs (Pull him down) awarded them at UniDisco helps to boast their confidence in their -insertion of san-san into your Garri – mission, for nothing empowers a Naija like a Diploma. The best place to work is on your parade. As you smile with your guards down, these agents of gloom with abilities to conjure up a tropical storm in the Sahara will unleash acid rain on your parade leaving you with bad memories.

The art of Good- times termination will always be practiced. It has its uses. Resistance is always good for growth. Gyms worldwide are founded on the principle of resistance. If everyone agrees with you and your muscles you will never get stronger. These party wreckers will get to you unless you learn how they operate. Forget why they operate. That solves nothing. They are ubiquitous like gravity so just work with them to your advantage and get on with life.

Methods in discouragement

1. Citation of a historical fact aimed at inducing fear. E.g. while celebrating the purchase of a high performance motor bike or car they throw in a comment about how someone died driving at high speed a few years ago. Don’t think about what they have said. It’s rain on your parade. Wade through the puddles.

2. Twisting statistics against you. E.g. On the day you open your new business someone decides to talk about the failure rate of new businesses in the first twelve months.

3. Be little your talents. This can be done indirectly by being very generous with praise about giants in your field but making no comment about you. Sometimes your best efforts are put down by recalling better efforts from the past. E.g. You take someone to a restaurant and they tell you about the amazing restaurant they went to three years ago throughout the meal.

4. Show you kindness and let you know you will probably fail. They do this as they cannot bear to see you cry when the inevitable happens to the unprepared. They may agree with your attempts at stardom and recall a few names of people who started like you and made it. But in kindness they tell you, ‘with due respect’, that the people who succeeded were all geniuses (and they keep silent about their estimation of your capabilities). You have just been hit by the Peace extinguisher for that seed of doubt eats into your confidence till you find it difficult to sleep.

5. The direct approach.

a. You get threatened by a friend who promises to end the relationship if you continue to spend so much time to better yourself

b. You are told to your face that you wrongly think you are special

c. You educational needs are exposed and the needed lessons are offered, E.g. ‘I will teach you are lesson for trying to go above your station’ someone might say when you announce your next move.

d. Geographical experts pretend to come to your aid by vowing to put you in your place, as you have apparently gotten lost due to your wandering ambitious mind climbing the palm tree beyond the last leaf. (I believe I can fly!)

e. Some cannot be bothered to send down the acid rain. They just aim to kill you and later get around to raining on the funeral.

6. They remind you of your previous ventures that crashed. Negative memories are recalled quite well. If all our examinations were about painful and shameful incidents from our past, we would all have first Class certificates. No one forgets shame and thinking on past disgraces paralyses all present day cognition and actions.

7. They remind you of your grandfather, father and relatives’ collective failures.’ No one in this family has ever done this. Why can’t you be humble and accept your lot in life with contentment?’ they ask. (Na who know man na im dey kill man).

8. They are lost for words and just laugh at you long and hard. Then they tell others who laugh longer and harder till they conclude with your medical diagnosis in disgust; ‘you are going mad mate’. (Ol’ boy, na so craze dey start o).

9. Remind you of the arduous task ahead. ‘Have you thought about getting a lawyer?’ they ask and when you say you cannot afford a lawyer you see them shaking their head at the ‘fine mess’ you are about to build.

10. They tell you to trust no one (but them) as the world is wicked. They ask if you have partners and you say yes (who ever does business on his own??). They then question you on your partner till they get to a question you cannot answer. They then shake their head and you feel like a foolish novice too green to do simple background checks.

11. They make promises, not to invest in your business but to always be there for you if you need them (what they really mean is they would lend you money and a shoulder to cry on after the great inevitable flop).

12. They maximise your misery by leveraging on their social networks to compound your discouragement. In other words they tell everybody they know about the foolish guy or girl with the foolish dreams and ill thought out plans. Now you risk running into people at parties or in taxis talking about you without knowing that you are the subject of the ridicule.

13. They tell you what they see. Unfortunately it is always, ‘I don’t see that happening’.

The above are just some of the methods that will be thrown your way as you fight to get the prize. Just think like a prize fighter. If he has no good sparring partners, he actually pays good money to recruit some heavy hitters for he knows listening to the coach and dreaming about victory is not enough. You need opposition in your arena constantly to keep you on your toes. So when next the adverse prognosticators come around and start to throw left jabs of discouragement of right hooks of disillusionment, just know that it is part of your training. Mohammed Ali we know, Tyson we know but who remembers the names of their sparring partners??

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

29-9-2014

Friday 19 September 2014

Will Power R Us

They say 95% of people have no written down goals or committed a life plan to paper. Of the remaining 5% with a plan only 2.8% of them go on to achieve their goals. Do the Maths; 97.2% of people are blowing in the wind. (Don’t you just hate it when someone tells you to do the maths and then does it before you can engage your brain??). These surveys we read seem to point to the fact that people have no plans and the ones with plans have no results. Well in Nigeria we have a solution to these survey results. We just say, ‘not my portion’.

They say that birds of a feather hang out on the same telegraph lines. That appears selfish of them for if the 2.8% Club of achievers only talk to each other, how will we learn the secret behind their exclusive success? Now you do not have to believe what I say for it is purely speculation, but let us go on speculating. If really these 2.8% of people exist, I suspect they stop talking or quickly change the subject when an ‘outside’ happens to walk in on them. That means that if your richest friends always talk about Arsenal FC whenever you walk in, you need to be suspicious. They might have modified the conversation to fit those who have been judged to have no definite purpose in life and as soon as you leave for the loo they resume the talks about the $1 Billion loan from the World Bank. They might have judged their dreams too precious and delicate to risk having you pour words of foolishness and doubt on them. So are these true friends? They love you, just the way you are. They know you cannot like them go three days without sleep from meeting to meeting for you have perfected that ‘work- life-sleep’ balance tipped strongly in the direction of your bed. Are these people selfish for hiding their dreams and work ethic from you? (Bearing in mind that someone once called one of them a workaholic for going back to work after Christmas dinner and it hurt them).

Is it fair that Billionaires hang out together and Millionaires eat dinner together? One man once told me of how he went shopping with someone. Their conversation went well till they got to the shops and he began to pick the things his wife had ordered, bags that cost about £500 an item. His friend started complaining that these bags cost more than his salary and it was a waste of money. The shopping trip had to be terminated for there were items on the list that cost £2000 and my friend did not want anyone to curse him secretly. He returned to finalise his shopping alone the next day. He also vowed never to mention work or money with anybody below his level ever again and he also decided to shop alone till the end of his days.

They say that people do not bother with life goals because they fail to achieve even simple New Year resolutions. Six months into the year about 90% of New Year resolutions are all but dead and gone. Why plan when failing will only make you feel bad? People still keep planning though. Even if not bold enough to write dreams down, some still ask, ‘what if?’, and ‘why not?’ Day dreaming about riding in a nice car is a kind of plan. The first steps. People see things, watch adverts and ponder if these could be their reality. These are all the vestiges of plans.

So why are there so few people going from dreams, to written downs goals and finally to ultimate achievement of desired goals?

ANSWER- Bringing things to past appears to be just plain hard and time consuming.

There are other things which give short term returns on our time and effort. These things are the sweet nothings of life. These are the temptations that provide a ‘sensible’ alternative to a hard existence.

For those who grew up learning that a bird in hand is worth ten in the bush the promise of pleasure a few months down the road seems absurd. What if we don’t live that long? Now is the only time we have truly got after all.

The short term sweet things always give the senses value for money and time. Resisting their alluring call means gratification is delayed. Now delaying gratification is the key to all achievements. It is a choice we all have to make and will power is needed to make a choice for the long term. Buy now pay later versus invest- now and profit later.

We all have the will power to delay gratification and achieve long term gains. For those who do not just pretend you do and marry someone who does.

Will Power R Us.

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

19-9-2014

Sunday 14 September 2014

The Dead Nigerians Society

Babawilly For President

Every living Nigerian is a potential member of the Dead Nigerians Society. There are no enrolment fees or class barriers to gaining a membership number. Just like a plane on a runway knows it has limited time to get up to speed and take off, every living Nigerian knows he or she would soon run out of that chronological runway called time. Among the society members, the chosen few have their faces on the Naira but for the rest, a tombstone will do. The society grows in numbers daily.

King Afilaka the Third

What an abomination! Why bring such a topic to the royal palace? Are you not aware that my subjects greet me by saying, ‘O King, live forever?’ Anyway, since you have mentioned that word, I will make a few comments.

I think it is really unfair that I would one day depart to the land of my forefathers without any means of taking the Rolls Royce and Bentley with me. That is my one and only quarrel with Eledumare. That I a King will troop out of this world along-side area boys and even road side mechanics is totally absurd. I even hear that on the other side no one would bow down to greet me in the usual manner in which I have grown accustomed to as a royal father.

It is a lonely trip to the other side. My beautiful Oloris (wives) who fight to travel abroad with me whenever one of my chiefs makes his private plane and Manhattan mansion available to me, these my pretty darlings, they will all refuse to go on the flight out of this world with me. They will follow me to the ends of the earth but stop short at my grave side. May I not join that society for many years. Amin.

Mazi Owerri

Bros. Welcome to the palace of Mazi Owerri. Death? That is a business opportunity my friend. I have four mortuaries in this Owerri and I plan to expand but the cost of diesel is crippling the business.I am sure you know we have our generators on round the clock. I also manufacture quality caskets to suit any pocket. Do you know a customer of mine last week had the most expensive outing of their lives in one of my quality casket last week? This was a man who never travelled on holidays because he claimed money was tight. He died and money stopped being tight. I made good money off his ‘befitting burial’. But bros, I cannot stand the funerals of women who died giving birth. And worse still are the funerals for babies. The government should do something about the state of health care for our women and children. Whenever parents come to request caskets for babies I end up crying. Me, Mazi Owerri, crying like a child in the market in front of my boys. When they bring out money to pay, I tell them to leave it. Me, stingy Mazi Owerri.

Another one that pains me is people in the prime of their lives deported to that dreaded society. Samuel Okwaraji is a case in point. I was at the National Stadium, Lagos in 1987 when he died during a football match. I have not been able to watch a live football match ever since. Even the televised matches can be a problem for me as I jump out of my seat every time a player goes down. The government must do something about the non-existent emergency health care service.

Sultan of Malali

You southerners have nothing better to do. If your time is up and you go what is the problem? Anyway, as for this society, I do not believe it exists. It is just a made up story by you people. There is however an ECOWAS society of dead infidels but I have no more comments of that.

Since you have mentioned child members of your fictional society, I would say it is a crying shame that we have a government not concerned about the number of women and babies we lose in child birth. The sole responsibility of government is the provision of health, education and security for the next generation. When I listen to their political campaigns I hear a lot about salt, rice and money changing hands but very little about their policies.

I will humour you however. If such a society exists and I become privileged to enrol at a ripe old age, on arrival I will walk straight to Awo, Zik and Tafawa Balewa and shake their hands. I respect these men a great deal. Next, I will walk over to Sir Ahmadu Bello and prostrate before him.

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

14/9/2014

Wednesday 10 September 2014

FELA should be a course in Nigerian Universities

Education gives an individual an opportunity to be a contributor in society. It arms the individual with a weapon to wage a good fight. Knowledge provides an individual with fire power for a productive and rewarding life.

A student is educated for service. The teacher digs deep into his student in search of raw materials which can be crafted into something useful. Talents, innate abilities and intellect all start out as a lump of shapeless marble at the start of tuition but soon get hued into a form that is fit for purpose. A purpose to be realised and lived out in society. The student is a product of his society for society is self-preserving. The engineers and soldiers of tomorrow are trained today for today’s teachers and administrators are tomorrow’s aged and frail citizens in need of care. Education is all about ensuring the next generation is equipped to take care of themselves, the old and the coming generation.

It stands to reason that the student at the end of tutelage becomes a product of society, bearing in his mind the cultural norms, cohort wisdom, history and collective aspirations of the people. The teacher imparts this knowledge, in addition to specific technical abilities required for the particular course being studied. Problems arise when cultures from other languages come to play in the class room. Communication flatters and the students begin to mutter under their breath, ‘teacher don’t teach me nonsense’. Imported cultures sometimes lead to a fracture inducing confusion especially when only the teacher has had the privilege of visiting their foreign plantations of knowledge and is stuck with students who have only viewed planes travel overhead but have never flown in one. How pleasant it might have been if knowledge taught was first postulated by pioneers who hail from the land in which the current teaching is taking place. Then knowledge would flow freely with nothing lost in the translation.

At the recently concluded TedxEuston salon (25-6-14) in London, we were introduced to Professor Neil Turok (via a previous Ted talk he had given) who believes that it is possible for the next Albert Eistein to come out of Africa. During his talk however he showed how very little research was coming out of the African continent. That means that most academic departments on the continent will have to cite papers published by non-Africans in their work. The colonial mentality continues for obvious reasons. All things bright, knowledgably beautiful come from abroad. A very dangerous mind-set to have! So we have teachers with certificates from abroad who might even feel superior to their students. How can the ‘been-to’ divide be overcome in the classroom? Students soon adapt, commit things to memory, regurgitate all on examination day and they get a certificate. But what happens next. The society appears to stagnate for numerous framed certificates do not make a people educated and progressive.

Take William Shakespeare. He writes Hamlet dies and some fellow studies this play and becomes a Professor of Hamlet somewhere in England. Nnamdi flew to England and learns Hamlet and returns back to Aba and soon is Professor of Hamlet. Emeka now gets admission to Eyemba University and studies under Prof Nnamdi and gets a first class degee in Hamlet. At no time during his course does the issue of bad roads, democracy by thugery, electricity black outs come up. Is there any surprise that out talented African parrot who can recite Shakespeare for England is of no use to his community? Education must be relevant.

Now what if Emeka studied foe a degree in Fela Anikulapo-Kuti ? He would have heard about light, water, food, House! He would have understood the issues as he lives through them daily. To be or not to be? Will not be his question. Rather it will a contemplation of ‘solider come solider go’ that will be his food for thought. Solutions will be articulated and on graduation, the discussions in classroom will be implemented in society. A course in Fela would have taught him to have world class aspirations through hours of practice, creativity and sacrifice. Societies march forward on the back of the sacrificial lives of pioneers. Fela indeed sacrificed for his art and for the common man. I haven’t interviewed a family member but I suspect he was so keen to distance himself for the behaviours and mind-set of the Nigerian elite he behaved it seems, like someone who had taken a vow of poverty. I cannot imagine him investing in properties in Ikoyi after releasing a song called Ikoyi blindness. He had too much integrity for that. He lived what he sang and he indeed sang for the common man. That was a huge sacrifice.

Emeka would have also learnt about what Napoleon Hill calls the Master Mind principle. Two or more people working towards a goal. Fela and drummer Tony Allen are a case in point. Working hard and long they were able to produce beautiful sounds. The Kalakuta Republic, where Fela lived before it was burnt down by solders was a commune where creativity thrived. Many great things can be achieved when people live together. That cuts out the time wasted in Lagos traffic for one. Long hours of practice breeds perfection.

This Kalakuta phenomenon was used by Mark Zuckerberg when he and his friends moved into a house and worked for hours building Facebook. What is creativity but a pot of soup where various ingredients are cooked up together under pressure to produce something beautiful? It never works if the fish or the salt each take breaks from the cooking process. That is Kalakuta. Wake, read, rehearse, write, work, read, rehearse and on and on. Nobody goes home for the work place is home. Professor Neil Turok also has a Kalakuta vibe going on in South Africa for he founded AIMS; Africa Institute for Mathematical sciences in South Africa in 2003. Here is a place where clever students and teachers are all under one roof in Muizenberg, Western Cape working hard to produce the next generation of brains to power Africa into the next level.

Emeka need not adapt a new lifestye or sense of morality (for each man must navigate his own morality) to get his diploma in Fela studies but he would need to be willing to roll up his sleeves, know himself, know his society and work long hours to improve that society working in tandem with other similarly minded people.

(On a personal level, how come Fela had a six pack aged over fifty years of age? The secret must be revealed)

Could everybody kindly say Yeah Yeah????

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

Babawilly

28-6-2014

Monday 8 September 2014

Archaeology for mumus (dummies)

Everyone is born with a silver shovel and a gold plated axe. This is equipment required for a life time of excavations into the terrain of the mind to unearth artefacts of historical value which have long been forgotten. Introducing the cycle of life; events happens, you bury the event in the sands of time, the memories rot away leaving a skeleton and you construct a kind of tombstone over the cerebral grave and move on. It is normal for people once in a while to return to the grave to lay flowers or spit, depending on the kind of memory but very few go the full nail yards and do a CSI- Brain type exhumation.

Say you lost a job a few years ago just before Christmas and it was an awful experience since you had not bothered to save for a ‘harmattan day’, your brain does you a big favour by burying the pain deep in your cortex without the dignity of a tombstone. It is now up to you whether or not you erect one. Going to exhume the memory will meet you with a few problems however. Most of the facts would have rotted away and all you are left with is bits of skeletons and artefacts. With imagination you can reconstruct a whole new scenario which will be lob sided as you might forget to factor in your poor performance on the job, your failure to be polite to customers and colleagues and your silly habit of parking in the slot allocated to your director. Bias leads to the wrong re writing of history and next thing you are transformed into a would be arsonist out to burn the company headquarters to the ground due to your amateurish venture into archaeology.

Memories fade for good reason. Pain should be forgotten once lessons are learnt. There are many who carry pain for years and still have not picked out any lessons. These are the ones who just keep on digging unpleasant memories from deep within their minds and then show case them in the museum of their faces. One look and you know that the past is a problem for these curators. All the museum pieces get in the way of the appreciation of the present and the visualisation of the future. If anyone attempts to remove any museum piece away, all hell breaks loose for there is no security like the security given to a ‘treasured and mounted’ incident. You could just hear them introduce the pottery of despair. ‘I call this piece- My useless ex-boyfriend’. It is usually a piece so large it fills half the museum.

There is no one without a nasty past. Why analyse this past daily? Why re explore the pain, how it made you feel, the tears, the despair and agony? In the song Exodus Bob Marley sings – we know where we are going, we know where we are from. We live in Babylon, we are going to the promised land.

Everyone with a nasty past needs to constantly plot an exodus. Not a transient flight into the skies with the aid of recreational drugs for you always have to land sooner or letter and the arrival airport tends to be the one from which you took off. Nay, a permanent exodus is called for.

A professional archaeologist seeks to learn from history lessons that can enrich the present generation. The advances of the past help to inspire present day students and helps us understand how things have evolved from generation to generation. A personal study of one’s genealogy can be helpful at times in boosting confident. You might find out that you hail from six generations of successful civil leaders and suddenly find you have a reputation to live up to.

Unfortunately you might find that you are the offspring of a long line of village thieves and vagabonds. Hardly information worth sharing is it?

We are who we are and we know our personal history well. If one must study the past, why not dig into other people’s histories. There are some many biographies out there and in them we can chronicle the struggles people have had with rising to the top despite all kinds of baggage. (Biographies tend to be about people who have made it as no one wishes to get their silver shovel dirty on account of a non-achiever).

The forensic investigators also dig deep but they do it for information to aid the prosecution of a criminal. They exhume corpses; looking for DNA samples which helps build a case. They need evidence to nail the guilty one.

Some mind archaeologists are really forensic investigators. They look not to understand their histories and adopt changes but rather to fish for someone in the past they can blame for an unhappy past, a miserable present and a totally ‘nothing to look forward to’ future. Is anybody that powerful to influence a life permanently? Of course such people exist. While working in a prison a few years ago I met a few dangerous guys who convinced me that the world has an ample supply of psychopaths in circulation. However, these are in the minority. These are people who will scar anyone they come into contact with permanently. However we should remember that our skin abounds with scars, wounds though painful at the time which have all healed; some with keloids. The last thing you need to do each morning is going through all your scars.

For every atrocity under the heavens there is a survivor who has written a book. These books help co- sufferers to see the light at the end of the dark hellish tunnel. Those who have lived through wars and oppressive regimes have a really hard time but surprisingly there are many heroic survivors who make it through to the other side and get on with life.

Bad things happen but good things also happen.

It would be nice for people to use their silver shovels and gold platted axes to seek the pleasant things in the past. The good things, those priceless moments, birthdays, weddings and achievements. One could reconstruct the event in the mind’s eye and even reconstruct bits which have been forgotten. The story line could be embellished a bit and the joy would fit nicely on the museum of our faces which is then viewed by the public. That is how our past can make the world a better place. The good times and the lessons from the bad times are good for all.

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

8/9/2014

Thursday 4 September 2014

Concealing achievements versus broadcasting accomplishments

Some achievements cannot be hidden. Where do you hide after winning the Nobel Prize? The same applies for natural endowments such as facial beauty. Does a beauty queen walk around in a mask so as not to make others feel less insecure? Achievements draw favourable attention especially in the newspapers and social media. Winning an Oscar is a sure way to gain that kind of instant attention. Unfortunately these big awards are for a microscopic minority despite many people craving attention. The bridge between the attention seekers and attention is usually constructed on the back of good old fashioned boasting. Through boasting people find that they can achieve attention without concrete achievements. For those not given to talking, big watches or cars are able spokesmen.

There is a parable about empty vessels producing the loudest noise. The Forbes rich list is full of people who record no rap records boasting of their wealth. Strange how the major share holders in a luxury brands stay silent while rappers who buys just one unit of product raps about it while swinging from the Eiffel Tower. Billionaires tend to stay silent. I suppose they are just too rich to boast about it. On the other hand a few with good credit do go on about what they are wearing and how they are living till you begin to wonder why.

The bottom line is that if you are at peace in your own skin, the boasting stops. The shark would not brag about swimming styles in the sea. If hungry and you are around, you would soon know about the shark swag. There is really no need for the Cheetah to boast about speed or the lion to boast about strength. These attributes are obvious. These animals wake up and be themselves with aplomb leaving the zoologists to do the talking. That means that if I see you coming and you need to tell me you are special, despite my eyes being in perfect working order, there must be something wrong.

Boast perception disorder

Sometimes someone is might just be expressing how they feel and the eavesdroppers diagnose boasting in error. ‘I prefer Emirates first class service to Arik’ says a frequent traveller and some thinks to himself, ‘Hmm. Show off’.

Another says, ‘I prefer MacDonald’s French fries to Burger King’s’ and the eavesdroppers diagnose preference. Everybody has choice, preferences, likes and dislikes. However, expressing them might incur the wrath of the accusers of the brethren. Is the solution to never express likes and dislikes? Perhaps sensitivity is needful. Next time you want to exalt the quality of Jimmy Choo’s autumn collection look around at the faces of your audience to see if they have eaten that week to avoid being cursed.

A one in a life time experience causes a lot of excitement to rage through an individual. Soon he is looking for someone to tell the story to. We all know that excited people repeat themselves. He goes on and on till the audience begins to either get swept away in joy or grumble about the noise. (‘We no go hear word again o! Na him first buy Bentley for Lagos?’)

Real Boasting

Definition- speak too much in praise of oneself, one’s possessions etc. Collin Dictionary. 1995. (To speaking I would add publishing pictures on social media)

The boasters fall into two categories-

The entertaining boasters. Some people go out to a nice restaurant and come back with tales so long you wish you were there. They keep you glued to your seats with exaggerated accounts of exquisite cuisine that cost a King’s ransom. While he name drops the stars that happened to be eating at the same time, he never forgets to add the cost of the meal and the size of the tip. Everyone is a winner. You have been entertained and he has had his ego flexed.
The tedious boasters. These are people who add no value to your quest for amusement. They tell your plainly that their watch cost £50,000. The need to drop that into the conversation is so desperate that they cannot even wait for the right opportunity to slot in their boast. You might have been talking about a certain premiership striker and they suddenly say, ‘he wore a watch like mine in one of his interviews’. In your mind, you think, ‘Ehen, so what?’ These are the sad cases. Trying to compensation for the past shame bestowed on them by penury with their shining new glad rags and ornaments. All they need is a comforting shoulder to cry on and a kind reminder that ‘we love you just the way you are’. Were we not who we were before the designer must have item hit the stores?

Sometimes these individuals are truly gifted and hardworking but just don’t get the acclaim they think they deserve because people don’t take them into their hearts. It might be that their time for acclaim has not yet come or perhaps they are not blessed with charisma. These people are baffled with how other less gifted people seem able to grab the lime light with minimum effort. They thus make it their life’s mission to convince people that they are the one’s truly deserving of fame and attention. The road to boasting starts here. Unfortunately life does no work like that. Charisma is not a debate. You either have it or you don’t. Elvis had it and he did not need to boast about it. The same goes for Albert Einstein.

Concealing achievements

It is dangerous to hang around people who never like to speak about your achievements and good qualities. People who never tell you anything good about yourself because they kindly never what your head to get too big. (Who made them Phrenologist over you?). You soon learn to be ‘humble’ and to permanently stay put ‘in your place’. A place conceived by others. After a few years of such an existence you would be one of those who at work interviews are unable to talk about your strong points for you fear to appear conceited.

Actively minimising or concealing achievements is not humility. On the other hand it might be cowardice for the fear of people and their petty envies should not determine whether or not you go with your Aston Martin or Toyota to the ball.

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

4-09-2014

Monday 1 September 2014

Satisfaction

Call Me was a popular song in the early 80s by the group called SKYY. It goes-‘call me if you need someone to talk to. Satisfaction guaranteed’.

Don’t you smell a rat? Now if I call you for talking how on earth can you guarantee satisfaction? All you will do is provide a listening ear, abi na anoda thing yu wan provide?

Everybody with something to sell promises satisfaction in today’s world yet satisfaction is still a rare commodity for all the sales men are lairs. You pay and like Mick Jagger and the rolling Stones get no satisfaction, just one more product or service you can do without.

So what is satisfaction? Where does it come from and what does it do to you? How does one get satisfied with food, drink, love, money, the weather, the holiday, family, the economy, life, career, one’s state of fitness, knowledge, social status and influence, cars, boats and jewellery?? I do not know. Does satisfaction float into your body while in bed or do you go looking for it armed with a net and some bait? One thing a do know a bit about is dissatisfaction. That is easy to understand. A lady who works in a drug store once told me that their main money earner was hair dyes. It seems no one is satisfied with being bestowed with grey hair anymore. Neither are people satisfied with how they look or smell hence the plastic surgical operations, anabolic steroids and perfumes. For many disappointed with their moods recreational drugs with the promise of a good time abound. If relationships or location generate displeasure, relocation is the word. As for length of hair, dissatisfaction has its remedy. Unfortunately, satisfaction is always elusive especially when it is intentionally sought for. The harder you seek, the less likely you are to find it. In 1974 the group B.T Express offered what appeared to be sound advice. Their prescription for fulfilment was perseverance and tenacity. Their song went – Do it till you’re satisfied, whatever it is.

If only it were that easy.

Sometimes I think the dissatisfied affluent people of this world should feel cheated that people in poorer ends of the earth can get satisfaction from air, water and cheap food. Contrasts these two families. The Olufemis and the Thompsons. The Olufemis live in a Lagos ghetto and one evening sent one of the kids to buy soup at a local restaurant while mama made Garri to go with the soup. When food was served on the floor in large plastic trays they gave thanks to God and ate as a family with everyone sitting in a circle around the garri and soup. Papa, mama and five kids all laughed and joked, each commenting on how much pleasure they were deriving from the meal. At the end of their food some of the kids started a dance as music from next door drifted in through the window. They even had the audacity to go tell the neighbour to repeat Skelewu when he changed the track.

The Thompsons had dinner served by servants on the table. They ate in silence, surrounded by the finest things money could buy in their gated community mansion. At the end of the meal each one said good night and retired to their rooms without a smile. Mr and Mrs Thompson and their two kids seemed in a bad mood.

Now these two meals happened on the same evening. The Thompsons all surfed the internet from their rooms for hours while the Olufemis relied on each other for company and had a lot of laughs in the process. The Thompsons connected with the world while the Olufemis connected with each other.

Since I have no clue what satisfaction is and no one around me appears to know I decided read the Bible to see what it said about satisfaction.

Ecclesiastes 6V2 – God gives a man wealth, possessions and honour, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless. A grievous evil.

Getting your heart’s desire may not bring satisfaction especially if the ‘chip’ for satisfaction in your brain has been removed. It is possible to accumulate mountains of stuff for the feasting of the eyes but fill empty inside. The heart’s desire is a strange thing. The desire promises so much but never delivers. No different form an advert on TV.

Those who don’t achieve their heart’s desire are sad and become envious of someone who did. Those who achieve it are sad for they wonder, ‘so, is this all there is?’

Satisfaction is almost impossible to describe but you tend to know when you have got it.

Ecclesiastes 12v 13- Now that all has been heard; here is the summary of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man.

Just do your duty and grab your satisfaction (Whatever satisfaction means). Osheee!!!!

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

1-9-2014

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Live to a Hundred

(Pictured is D Day Veteran Harry Billing (This is not Mr C))

I recently met the amazing Mr C and had to share. The 77 year old ex- army man said to me, ‘I will live to a hundred’.
Not many are confident of their longevity so I became interested in this man and what he had to say. He touched no wood as he predicted the length of his days thus igniting my curiosity so I probed.

He gave me the short version of his CV.

At eleven years of age he was knocked off his bike by a speeding car and was uninjured.

Soon he was off to join the army and was shot in Egypt while guarding evacuees during the Suez Canal crisis of 1952. The left shoulder flesh wound did not slow him down and he was soon off to Cyprus to participate in the Cyprus- Turkey hostilities. While travelling in a convoy in Cyprus his lorry hit a mine and he was sat on the roof at the time. His flight through the air ended on soft bushes and he soldiered on.

His next posting was in Ireland and again his lorry was bombed. Again he was seated on the roof and off he flew into some road side marshy land. (At this stage I began to doubt if these things really happened).

On discharge from the army he was working on a roof and fell to the ground head first but survived. (Starting to sound like Nigeria).

One day while going to work on his push bike, he was projected into the air by a lorry. He landed, dusted himself and went to work! He was about 35 years old. (Please note that Mr C is no code name for Clarke Kent)

Five year later while on a motor bike, he was hit by a lorry and broke no bones.

In 1981, he thought it was surely the end. Diagnosed with Stomach Cancer he ventured to know the prognosis. ‘You have just six months’ he was told.

He claims that originally his surgery was to be performed by an understudy to the Chief Surgeon but he said, ‘The chief surgeon must have seen something in me, so he decided to do the operation himself’. Having been relieved of his stomach, spleen and various lymph nodes, he recovered. Unfortunately, the Chief Surgeon who incidentally was suffering from the same Stomach condition as Mr C went in for surgery the next day but did not make it. He was wheeled out of the operating theater dead.

So, what is the secret of living to a hundred?

When you get knocked down, stand up promptly and you just might get a chance. A dose of PMA, (positive mental attitude) also helps.

Mr C was over flowing with PMA. His last words to me before he left were, ‘I will make it to a hundred. You will see me, er, if you are still around’.
Eh! God forbid bad thing. ‘Of course I will be around’!! I replied almost too enthusiastically.
After all, Dia ris God on my side and He is willing!

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

27-8-2014

Sunday 24 August 2014

Story Telling Default Settings

Story telling default setting

There is a topic that ignites passion like no other in a person. This is what they talk best about. This is an arena in which they swim effortlessly like a shark in water. Until that topic is hit upon you might find them dull and lacking in charisma.

Everyone has an individual core purpose, a driving force that causes them to have an affinity for some stories. Over the years they load themselves with these topics and soon start to ‘leak’ at times they least expect. Start a conversation with people and if you hang around for long enough, the conversation drifts slowly to their preferred area of interest. It could be anything from their bad luck to their family wealth.

I first thought about people and their stories during a sermon by Joel Osteen of the Lakewood Church during which he said, ‘I heard about a man..’ and went on to tell a story to aid the understanding of his sermon. Subsequently I noticed that in every sermon he says things like ‘I was reading about someone’, ‘heard about someone’ or ‘talking to someone in the church’ who had a story to tell. I began to wonder way he was always the one who heard about all these stories. (Na only you waka come phenomenon) Was it that he hears an equal number of good and bad stories but only re tells the good ones? On looking around, I found out that friends and family all have their specialist areas of storytelling which seemed to attract more of such stories to them. Everyone is a story teller after all. Is that not what a Curriculum Vitae is all about?

Fanny Crosby, speaking about herself in the Hymn Blessed Assurance puts it best

This is my story; this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long;

I was shocked to find out that the lady who wrote so many important Christian hymns was blind. The strength of her tenacity is undeniable seeing that she wrote about 8,000 hymns and from what can be gathered from biographical sources she had just one story to tell; which she did through her music.

Everybody has something they do all day long and this activity becomes their story. Napoleon Hill says, Sow an act and reap a habit, sow a habit and reap a character, and sow a character and reap a destiny. No matter what people might say they wish for or want, it is the daily acts performed consistently that their future success depends upon.

Can one change one’s story?

I think (and I may be wrong) that the chances of changing an individual story are close to zero. Not because it is impossible but just because people do not like change. What happened in childhood is taken as an excuse for how we are, (till death do us part from excuses). Take someone who did not apply himself well in school and left with no qualifications. Such an individual begins to tell people that he had little education so as to be excused from doing academically demanding work. That story becomes a habit and would be re-told for sixty years or more. Such a person could have educated himself in fifteen years rather than complain or lament the lack of an education for sixty years. The same goes for people who say that their family or culture prevents them from doing things. These are people could be in their twenties and would have known their families for only twenty something years. Surely they could easily learn a new culture over the next twenty years. Is childhood learning set in stone?

Perhaps the story could change if the story teller embraces a two-fold change. First he changes his appetite and learns to dine in the libraries of new information. Secondly he stops telling the old stories and start his tentative steps in the journey of a new language. It almost like the change I underwent from being an A-level student to being a medical student. The language of anatomy was as tough to grasp as was indeed the actual technical information. We talked about it all day long, dived deep into the aqua of knowledge (as one Nigerian politician is fond of saying)cracked jokes about it (the smallest girl in the class was cruelly called Flexor digiti minimi brevis after one of the smallest muscles in the hand) and dreamt about it, till the exams were passed. Transformational change is painful but possible.

The Voice

Stories are told in a voice that tends to remain constant. The voice may break at puberty but it still retains its core characteristics throughout life. Is nature sending out a secret message by giving us just one voice in a life time? Could it be that we have similarly just one story to tell? Just one main mission for which we are born? Even in writing, novelists have a ‘voice’. It rarely changes upon reaching maturity. Sometimes out of necessity, one could adopt a different voice through mimicry but it never lasts. The true voice and story must be found before one can really find peace in life.

Old friends

Meeting up with old friends can be very interesting. Incidents long forgotten are brought up which usually go on to prove that people have changed little over the years. They might have acquired more money and weight while losing hair in the process but they still drift to the topics they loved way back in the boys’ dormitory. They may have lacked the courage to pursue their dreams in a given sphere of life but even in their bitter complaining, they drift to that sphere and complain about something there. The successful entrepreneur tells stories about all the mutual friends with successful businesses while the dissatisfied failed business man rolls out a list of ex class mates who are either struggling or have died.

Shut up for change

Forgetting the things behind I press on (Philippians 3:13). Just don’t talk or think about the nasty past or associate with anyone inclined to do so. Keep the mouth shut and focus on the new so that the future will bring a new story and a sweet glory.

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

23-8-2014